Dust In the Wind, Or At Least On My Guitar Case

For those of you not well acquainted with my history; I am, among other things, a guitarist. I have been playing since I was eleven years old. I lean towards classical and folk music, but have been know to lay down the occasional blues lick or metal riff.

A few years ago, I taught guitar lessons for a while. It was a blast, but I was a flake. I had too much else going on so I dropped it. Consequently, I have not really played my guitar in a shamefully long time. I've opened the case and changed the water in the humidifier, but other than a line or two from Malaguena and Every Rose Has It's Thorn, I haven't given it much attention. The calluses from my fingers are lost, and the 2-3 hours I spent practicing in my bedroom every night after school are long ago and far away.

So a few weeks ago, I saw my guitar case in the closet gathering dust. I tried to ignore it. I knew that I couldn't play like I used to. I put it out of my mind and went about my business. It nagged at me all during work that day. It nagged at me when I drove to Logan the next day. It was still nagging at me several days latter when I drove home from Logan.

So reluctantly, after my husband had gone to work I pulled out the case and got out Olga. She is made from Sitka Spruce, and the smell that comes out of the case when you open it is magical. I tuned her (mostly from habit, she was still spot on) and began to play some scales. My fingers where so stiff, my movements were so labored and slow. Gradually, my hands and fingers warmed up. So did my soul. I remembered most of La Palermo, and while I didn't play it anywhere near perfectly, it did make me tear up. I had reunited with a lost part of myself.

I know I will never be a concert musician. I'll never be part of a successful band. I'm certainly not a classical master, and I don't write songs people will care about. I can play though, and it is a very important part of who I am. What I can do is share my love of music with others, and so I am going to start playing and teaching lessons again.

So as The Bard says: "If music be the food of love, play on..."